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Contributing Factors to Personal Protective Equipment Shortages during the COVID-19 Pandemic

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  • Cohen, Jennifer
  • Rodgers, Yana

Abstract

This study investigates the forces that contributed to severe shortages in personal protective equipment in the US during the COVID-19 crisis. Problems from a dysfunctional costing model in hospital operating systems were magnified by a very large demand shock triggered by acute need in healthcare and panicked marketplace behavior that depleted domestic PPE inventories. The lack of appropriate action on the part of the federal government to maintain and distribute domestic inventories, as well as severe disruptions to the PPE global supply chain, amplified the problem. Analysis of trade data shows that the US is the world’s largest importer of face masks, eye protection, and medical gloves, making it highly vulnerable to disruptions in exports of medical supplies. We conclude that market prices are not appropriate mechanisms for rationing inputs to health because health is a public good. Removing the profit motive for purchasing PPE in hospital costing models and pursuing strategic industrial policy to reduce the US dependence on imported PPE will both help to better protect healthcare workers with adequate supplies of PPE.

Suggested Citation

  • Cohen, Jennifer & Rodgers, Yana, 2020. "Contributing Factors to Personal Protective Equipment Shortages during the COVID-19 Pandemic," MPRA Paper 103496, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:103496
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/103496/1/MPRA_paper_103496.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Stephen Duckett, 2022. "Public Health Management of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia: The Role of the Morrison Government," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1, August.
    3. Antonio Javier Expósito-Delgado & Verónica Ausina-Márquez & María Victoria Mateos-Moreno & Elena Martínez-Sanz & María del Carmen Trullols-Casas & María Eulalia Llamas-Ortuño & José María Blanco-Gonzá, 2021. "Delivery of Health Care by Spanish Dental Hygienists in Private and Public Dental Services during the COVID-19 De-Escalation Phase (June 2020): A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-17, August.
    4. Caitlin A. J. Powell & John P. Butler, 2022. "The Role of Moral Distress on Physician Burnout during COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-10, May.
    5. Rivera-Cuadrado, Wayne, 2023. "Healthcare practitioners’ construction of occupational risk during the COVID-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    6. Sara Saadatmand & Khodakaram Salimifard & Reza Mohammadi & Alex Kuiper & Maryam Marzban & Akram Farhadi, 2023. "Using machine learning in prediction of ICU admission, mortality, and length of stay in the early stage of admission of COVID-19 patients," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 328(1), pages 1043-1071, September.
    7. Martina Capuzzo & Gian Luca Viganò & Cinzia Boniotti & Lucia Maria Ignoti & Claudia Duri & Veronica Cimolin, 2022. "Impact of the First Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Acquisition of Goods and Services in the Italian Health System," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-17, February.
    8. Nadia Garcia‐Santaolalla & Kyle de Klerk, 2022. "Ensuring Market Supply Transparency for Personal Protective Equipment: Preparing for Future Pandemics," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 13(3), pages 401-411, June.
    9. Mara Shirin Hetzmann & Natascha Mojtahedzadeh & Albert Nienhaus & Volker Harth & Stefanie Mache, 2021. "Occupational Health and Safety Measures in German Outpatient Care Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-17, March.
    10. Nelson Borges Amaral & Bin Chang & Rachel Burns, 2022. "Understanding consumer stockpiling: Insights provided during the COVID‐19 pandemic," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 211-236, March.
    11. Khouja, Moutaz & Hammami, Ramzi, 2023. "Building viable stockpiles of personnel protective equipment," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 307(3), pages 1206-1224.
    12. Gary Edward Schaffer & Lisa Kilanowski & Brian En Chyi Lee, 2022. "A Qualitative Investigation of the Impact of COVID-19 on United States’ Frontline Health Care Workers and the Perceived Impact on Their Family Members," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-15, August.
    13. Hsiu-Ju Jen & Kuei-Ru Chou & Ching-Yi Chang, 2022. "Fostering Nursing Staff Competence in Personal Protective Equipment Education during COVID-19: A Mobile-Video Online Learning Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-10, July.
    14. Melissa McDiarmid & Marian Condon & Joanna Gaitens, 2021. "The Healthcare Sector Employer’s Duty of Care: Implications for Worker Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-12, June.
    15. Monika Bernburg & Mara Shirin Hetzmann & Natascha Mojtahedzadeh & Felix Alexander Neumann & Matthias Augustin & Volker Harth & David Alexander Groneberg & Birgit-Christiane Zyriax & Stefanie Mache, 2021. "Stress Perception, Sleep Quality and Work Engagement of German Outpatient Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-24, December.
    16. Cervantée E. K. Wild & Hailey Wells & Nicolene Coetzee & Cameron C. Grant & Trudy A. Sullivan & José G. B. Derraik & Yvonne C. Anderson, 2022. "Mixed-Methods Survey of Healthcare Workers’ Experiences of Personal Protective Equipment during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Aotearoa/New Zealand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-10, February.
    17. Chi Chiang & Mei-Chen Chuang, 2024. "Effect of Sustainable Supply Chain Management on Procurement Environmental Performance: A Perspective on Resource Dependence Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1, January.
    18. Veronika Pacutova & Andrea Madarasova Geckova & Peter Kizek & Andrea F. de Winter & Sijmen A. Reijneveld, 2021. "The Impact of Pandemic Management on the Quality of Life of Slovak Dentists," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-9, May.
    19. Rebecca Alcock & Justin J. Boutilier & Auyon Siddiq, 2022. "Shield-Net: Matching Supply with Demand for Face Shields During the COVID-19 Pandemic," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 52(6), pages 485-507, November.
    20. Istiak Ahmad & Fahad Alqurashi & Ehab Abozinadah & Rashid Mehmood, 2022. "Deep Journalism and DeepJournal V1.0: A Data-Driven Deep Learning Approach to Discover Parameters for Transportation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-72, May.
    21. Unruh, Lynn & Allin, Sara & Marchildon, Greg & Burke, Sara & Barry, Sarah & Siersbaek, Rikke & Thomas, Steve & Rajan, Selina & Koval, Andriy & Alexander, Mathew & Merkur, Sherry & Webb, Erin & William, 2022. "A comparison of 2020 health policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(5), pages 427-437.
    22. Yao, Qianyi & Fan, Ruguo & Chen, Rongkai & Qian, Rourou, 2023. "A model of the enterprise supply chain risk propagation based on partially mapping two-layer complex networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 613(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Personal Protective Equipment; COVID-19; coronavirus; N95; gloves; PPE; nurses; supply chain; shortage; public good;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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